Judo for Self Defense

 

A couple of mob movies

A couple of mob movies were on cable recently. Casino and The Godfather II.

Casino starred Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, and Sharon Stone. DeNiro and Pesci were at their best, but this was always one of my favorite appearances by Sharon Stone. She wasn't just a pretty face. In fact, in some scenes she was downright ugly. It was with this movie I think we began to see that she had some depth as an actress.

http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hv&cf=info&id=1800249512

The Godfather II is really two stories. Al Pacino as Michael Corleone is building his empire; while in flashbacks, Robert DeNiro as a young Vito Corleone is buiding his. I thought DeNiro stole the show, doing the performance in Italian.

http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hv&cf=info&id=1802814933

Donnie Brasco

I like mob movies. Among my favorites are the Godfather Trilogy and Casino. One that I hadn't gotten around to seeing was Donnie Brasco. It was on cable the other night, and I saw it.

Donnie Brasco is based on the memoir by FBI agent Joseph Pistone. Pistone infiltrated the NY mob, and for six years posed as a jewel thief. The movie stars Al Pacino and Johnny Depp as the title character.

Al Pacino had been known as a great actor for quite some time, and without great writing, he still does a terrific job. Johnny Depp was still a relative newcomer, but did a great job, surpassing Pacino in my opinion, as an actor.

This is one of those instances where the book and movie both manage to stand on their own.

Here's a link to the book:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0451192575/qid=1122516685/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-1745240-4369737

... and to the movie:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00004XPPB/qid=1122516973/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-1745240-4369737?v=glance&s=dvd